“Juvia, get behind me, I’m going to finish this,” he says, glancing at Juvia who was panting, her eyes fluttering shut. She managed to get behind him a few feet away, propping herself up on a boulder, her head drooping to the side a bit. Gray activates his demon slayer side and gets into a stance. “Ice devil’sZeroth Destruction Bow!” He exclaims, shooting the arrow at the enemy.

The blue haired dude known as The Mystic falls down to his knees, clutching his stomach, purple ice spiking out of his body.

“Ice Devil’s Rage!” Gray shouts, deciding not to take any chances. Shooting a beam of ice out of his mouth, effectively taking out his opponent. “Juvia, are you ok?” He asks, running over to her.

“Juvia is fine, she just used up all her magic,” Juvia explains. “Is Gray-sama ok?”

“I’m fine, just a few bruises,” Gray says, picking Juvia up bridal style, “let’s get you back to the hotel.” Gray gently carries her back to the hotel room, holding her close the whole way. Once he lays her down on their shared bed, he sits at the edge, smiling softly. “I’m glad you’re ok, I was really worried.”

Juvia moves to lay her head on his lap, “Juvia told you already, she’s fine.”

“I can’t believe we had to use my demon slayer magic on that guy though,” Gray says, changing the subject.

“Gray-sama hasn't used it in a while, how did it feel?”

“Honestly, it felt different than normal, it felt like something deep down woke up inside of me, it was really weird.”

“Maybe it was nothing?” Juvia suggests.”Just awakening some old magic since it’s been so long?”

“I guess that’s possible,” Gray shrugs, “I just don’t remember it feeling like this.”

“What can Juvia do to help?” Gray looks down at her, smiling softly. Normally, he would have been nervous having Juvia so close but after the fight they had with The Mystic, he felt incredibly drawn to her, like something inside of him had changed. 

“No, I’m probably just overthinking it.”

“How about we get some sleep then?” Juvia suggests, “it’s getting late.”

“Sure, just like last night?”

“Uh, yeah, that’s fine.”

Gray nods and turns over onto his side, scooting to the edge of the bed, Juvia doing the same but on her other side, not wanting to make Gray uncomfortable. Juvia sighed as she stared at the wall, wondering if she would ever manage to capture Gray’s heart. “Goodnight, Gray-sama” she mutters, exhausted from the fight and from being low on magic as she let her eyes flutter shut and she fell asleep.

“Night Juvia,” Gray responds, turning over to look at her, even though it was just her backside. As Gray laid there, watching her sleep, his demon slayer magic seemed to get all excited, causing his emotions to go haywire. Hours passed with Gray just watching her sleep peacefully, his eyes finally got heavy and he fell asleep, wrapping his arms around Juvia as he did so, not sure what caused him to do such a thing.

“Sting and Rogue were on their way to the Fairy Tail guild to celebrate Gajeel and Levy’s baby shower with the others, walking so close to each other, their hands were almost touching. “Rogue, do you ever wonder what would have happened if we didn’t grow up together?”  Sting asks, looking over  to glance at him.

“No, because we were always meant to be friends, it wouldn’t have been possible for us to grow up separately.”

“Yeah, friends,” Sting nods, a fake smile appearing on his face. Every time Rogue said something about them being friends, something in sting broke, he wasn’t sure why it bothered him so much, it was just a little crush…however, over the past couple days, it felt like that little crush was getting bigger, Sting was sure that soon, he wouldn’t be able to contain it inside him anymore.

Rogue felt Sting’s hand brush against his and something in Rogue tried to burst out of his skin. The two of them walked towards the train station, seriously dreading the train ride. Once they got on the train, they sat down beside each other and got sick as soon as the train started moving. Sting ended up laying his head down on Rogue’s shoulder, breathing heavily, trying to push the nausea away even though he knew it was pointless. Rogue managed a small, clenched smile as he did his best to enjoy his best friend turned crush lay on him.

As soon as the train stopped, Rogue and Sting slowly stood up, still nauseous from the train ride as they both stumbled off and sat down on a bench they found. “We should just move our guild to Magnolia, that way if our exceeds are away, we don’t have to take the stupid train.”

“I don’t think we can relocate an entire guild without a ton of paperwork,” Rogue chuckles.

Sting pouts and stands up, “come on, let’s go see our friends!” The two of them made their way to Fairy Tail, excited to see their friends again.

The two of them arrive at the guild and open the doors dramatically. “We’re here!” Sting calls out, striding inside with a big smile on his face. “How’s the preparations going?”

“They’re going great! Everything’s almost ready!” Mira exclaims, turning to face the twin dragon slayers.”

“Do y’all need help with anything else?” Rogue asks, walking over to them.

“One of y’all can go get Gajeel and Levy while the other helps with the finishing touches”

“No! We stay together!” Rogue says darkly, shadows moving around him.

“Ok…” Mira says, frowning. “Both of y’all can go get them. I’ll have Gray and Juvia help with finishing touches, they should be back in town by now.”

Sting nodded and he and Rogue both headed out to Gajeel and Levy’s place. “Sting,” Rogue says, glancing at his best friend, his mate. “Thank you for coming with me, having you with me makes everything better.”

Searching for Rogue’s hand, Sting lets his hand brush against Rogue’s. “We should talk to Gajeel about the house, I’m pretty sure everyone has found their mates.”

“It took long enough, the house has been sitting there for like two years now.”

“I know, now we just have to find our mates and we’ll be ready.”

“We haven’t?” Rogue asks, glancing at Sting as they walk.

“What? Have you found your mate? You found them and didn’t tell me!”

Rogue groaned, “no, I haven’t found them.”

“Oh, ok.” Sting replies, confused. They arrive at Gajeel and Levy’s place and knock on the door.

Levy opens the door and smiles, “hey, is it time to go to the guild?”

“Yes, but we need to talk to Gajeel alone first.”

“Levy, who’s at the door?” Gajeel asks, coming over to stand behind her, wrapping an arm around her.

“It’s time to go to the guild but they said they need to talk to you alone first,” she explains, turning to face him.

“Alright, why don’t you go grab the things you need while I talk to them and then we’ll head out.”

“Sounds good,” Levy says, bounding off to grab her bag.

“What do you two want?” Gajeel asks, closing the door as he steps outside.

“Almost everyone has found their mates, all except me and Rogue, I have a feeling we will soon as well so we should probably go ahead and take them to the house. Were you able to get the stuff from the magic council?”

“Yeah, I have everything, but I’m concerned that cutting off Levy’s magic will affect the baby. Also, you have both found your mates and if you can’t see it then you’re both stupid.”

“Excuse me?” Sting growls, “do you actually think you know us better than we do?”

“No, but I think that the two of you are dense,” Gajeel rolls his eyes. “I can literally smell your mates on y’all.”

“Who is it?” Sting asks, confused.

“We’re mates…” Rogue growls lowly, getting extremely tired of Sting not realizing it.

Sting blinks, “is that why I feel weird when I’m around you? How…how did I not know? You're supposed to know instantly…Rogue, I’m so sorry.”

“It's whatever,” Rogue mutters, not looking Sting in the eyes, “let's just finish what we're doing.”

“I've never heard of magic cancelling cuffs affecting pregnancy but if you want, we can try to research it.”

Gajeel nods, “I’m not taking away her magic if it puts my child at risk.”

“I got everything,” Levy says, walking over to the others. Gajeel immediately took everything from her, an empty bag for presents, her purse, and a book in case things got insane. “I can carry something,” she pouts, crossing her arms as the four of them head back towards the guild.

“You're carrying our child, that's enough for me.” He says, a soft smile on his lips.

Levy smiled back and slipped her hand around his arm since his hands were occupied.

Sting glanced over at Rogue, frowning softly. How had he missed the signs and why didn't Rogue mention it? Did Rogue want him to figure it out for himself? “Rogue?” Sting asks softly.

“What?” Rogue asks, an irritated tone in his voice.

“I know you're upset right now but I just want to say I’m sorry for not realizing what this feeling was. I don't know why I didn't realize and it's not fair to you.”

“It's fine, really, just forget about it, ok? Now that you know, we can go on as mates.” Rogue says, forcing a small smile to appear. Sting smiles back and grabs Rogue’s hand in his, squeezing tightly as they walk.

Back at the guild, Mira was stressing, Gray and Juvia still weren't back and it was almost time to get started! Those two were in charge of the ice sculptures! She knew it wouldn't be the end of the world but it definitely sucked, she wanted today to be perfect for Levy and Gajeel! “Get ready everyone, they'll be here shortly!” She calls out, getting into position behind the bar. “Also, remember, no brawling, today is Levy’s and Gajeel’s day! I'm looking at you Natsu.”

“Why are you looking at Natsu?” Laxus growls in her ear, “you should be looking at me and only me.”

“Laxus, I mean I'm watching him to make sure he doesn't start a brawl…why are you acting so possessive?” he didn't answer but instead just decided to lean on her shoulder, wrapping his arms around her waist. Mira stopped trying to figure out why he's acting the way he was and leaned into his neck, smiling softly.